


our hell is a good life

by MiniNephthys



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 05:53:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4992769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniNephthys/pseuds/MiniNephthys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Somehow, at the end of the day... a small, white dog became president of the underground."  Is everyone happy with that?</p>
            </blockquote>





	our hell is a good life

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I'll write angst for the dog ending. You wanna go?

Monsters are made of tougher stuff than most people give them credit for.

When they lost hope after the crown prince died, all it took was a glimmer of hope for their escape to bring peace back to the underground. When they lost hope another time, after Asgore and the human souls disappeared, all they needed was someone - anyone - to take charge in order for the chaos to be settled.

That the monster in question would end up being a small white dog was unexpected, but monsters adapted to that. They’re still in mourning, of course, for Asgore, for Undyne, for most of the royal guard, and for…

Well.

Sans can’t say Papyrus was particularly close to anyone in Snowdin, but his presence was certainly felt there. Children in the library having difficulty with the books could no longer find Papyrus at a moment’s notice to read to them; the hotel owner stopped offering lollipops for a time, only smiling sadly and shaking her head if anyone asked. The town quieted down. Puzzles went untouched.

Monsters tried to console Sans every day, up until he could take it no longer and moved to New Home. He’s the president’s ‘advisor’ now. It’s less work than he thought it would be. Hardly anyone comes to the president for anything.

The monsters mourn, but life goes on for them. No one depends on Mettaton’s channel to survive, and Dr. Alphys hadn’t been seen outside her lab for ages anyway. Without outside intruders, no one truly needs Undyne or the Royal Guard. And who needs a skeleton who can’t even stop one tiny human?

Sans needs him. Sans can hardly pick himself out of bed without Papyrus to yell at him for being such a lazybones. Sans can barely bring himself to make a joke without Papyrus to tell him how awful it is. Without Papyrus, Sans’ days are meaningless and empty.

But he’s gone now, and he’s staying gone.

A high-pitched bark pulls Sans from his thoughts.

“I don’t blame you,” he says. “You’ve got nothing to do with all this. You’re not the purr-petrator… wait, that’s a cat pun. ...Doggone it?”

The president whines and pushes its head against Sans’ hand.

“Worried about me? Heh… I’ll be fine. Or do you just want some petting? I never did understand dogs too well. Sure, I’ll throw you a bone.” Sans pets the dog gently.

It’s a good thing that monsters are recovering so quickly, Sans supposes. Time won’t stop just because a few people are dead. Monsters still need to go to work, children still need to go to school. They can’t be expected to grieve forever. The sooner they can bounce back, the better.

It’s only Sans who’s behaving like life has stopped for him, too. Just Sans.

That’s all wrong. There’s no Sans without Papyrus. There shouldn’t be a Sans without Papyrus.

But life hasn’t stopped for anyone but Papyrus, and Sans is alone now. Just him, and a tiny dog.


End file.
